AP CM to be lead partner in making Araku a 'smart village'

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will be the "lead partner" in developing the tribal village Araku in Visakhapatnam district into a "Smart Village" under a new scheme being launched by the state government.

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will be the "lead partner" in developing the tribal village Araku in Visakhapatnam district into a "Smart Village" under a new scheme being launched by the state government.

The chief minister will formally launch the "Smart Village-Smart Ward Towards Smart Andhra Pradesh" scheme in West Godavari district tomorrow.

Araku is a picturesque valley in the agency area and is one of the top tourist spots in the state.

With Chandrababu choosing to become the lead partner in the scheme, Araku will become a Smart Village in 20 "non-negotiable indicators" like education, health, sanitation, skill development, etc.

The chief minister's wife Bhuvaneswari will become lead partner in the development of Komaravolu, her mother's native village in Krishna district, while their son and industrialist Nara Lokesh has chosen his grandfather NTR's native Nimmakuru village.

Lokesh's wife Brahmani will be the lead partner for Naravaripalle in Chittoor district, the native village of Chandrababu, Naidu announced here tonight.

"To make every village and every civic ward smart, we first need to make citizens smart. Ultimately the state will be transformed into a Smart AP and become the number one in India by 2029," he said.

The 'Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana' would be integrated with the AP Smart Village scheme, he added.

In all, the scheme would be implemented in 12918 villages and 3463 civic wards in urban areas.

Celebrities, industrialists, people's representatives and bureaucrats would be involved as lead partners in the scheme, besides Non-Resident Indians and Non-Resident Villagers.

The Chief Minister launched smart.Ap.Gov.In portal that will contains all details, including demographic particulars of all villages.